1. What were your early craft influences/experiences?I have always been exposed to crafts, art, sewing, building… Everyone in my family made what they needed. My grandmother and mother sewed many of our clothes, curtains, quilts, bedspreads, toys, my father built barns, designed and helped build my childhood home and he made things out of metal on a lathe. There are many “fine artists” on my mother’s side of the family. I specifically remember a wooden rooster, hen and chick set (my dad cut it out of wood for my mother); she decorated the chickens with different colored seeds and beans and hung these on our kitchen wall. This kitchy craft has stayed with me all these years, I’m sure I was influenced by my family’s artistic endeavors.

2. When did you start getting serious about making stuff – what was the ‘light bulb’ moment for you? For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been making something; (dolls out of vegetables, painting chairs, making mosaic figures) my career was as a graphic designer and illustrator, but I became serious about “making things” once we moved to Israel. I wanted to dress my girls in cute little, cotton party dresses with Peter Pan collars, but there was no such thing here. My girls played dress up with costumes daily in Chicago, but there are no costumes here (except for costumes of a terrible quality.) I wanted to give nice toys as presents for birthdays; there was nothing nice to buy…That was 10 years ago, it’s a little better now. There was really nothing of quality to wear or play with when we moved to Israel, so I started to make the girls’ clothes, toys and costumes. Israeli’s were unfamiliar with my Mid-western style and always commented on it and asked where they could also buy these things. I opened a children’s boutique full of handmade costumes and toys (for a while clothing); it was a magical boutique, a one of a kind store anywhere. I’ve published two instructional craft books about my favorite things that I designed and made in my store: Sew Magical for Baby and Sew Magical for Kids. I’ve since changed my venue to the internet, www.lauraleeburch.com

3. Name three of your favourite artist/maker/designers who have influences your artistic direction or your craft practice?My favorite things to make are toys, dolls and puppets. When I first started making dolls, I started sewing teddy bears and I really admired Lori Ann Corelis. Lori made the most adorable bears and rabbits! Another artist I’ve admired for a long time is Mary Englebreit; I’ve always found it interesting as an artist, to see the way she made a career out of her adorable illustrations, fabric prints, collectables and her magazine. Currently, I’m into needle felting and I can’t get enough of the toy artist Natasha Fadeeva. She knits and needle felts the most amazing little creatures

4. What is your favourite material/product to work with? And what three things could you not do without in your craft room?A really good pair of sharp scissors, many different gauged needle felting needles and different sized needle holders and a measuring tape with inches on one side and centimeters on the other.

Print any or all of the three printable ebook formats (vertical a4/letter, horizontal a4/letter and vertical 2 printed to a page a4/letter) or purchase the already beautifully printed hard copy from Redbubble.

Print as many whipup 2011 calendars as you like to give for last minute presents and budget gifts. These also are fabulous to hang in your kitchen, craft room or office. Find out more info here.

All three printable formats are included in the one low price of $5.00

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1. What were your early craft influences/experiences?I have only been crafting for about two years. My youngest child was 6 months old at the time, I was tired and quite honestly a little overwhelmed with motherhood, I remember feeling like I didn’t have anything that was purely just for me. I was taking the kids for a walk one day and happened to come across the Prints Charming studio. It is such an inspiring place, full of light and colour. I signed up for a stitching class on the spot and haven’t looked back.

2. When did you start getting serious about making stuff – what was the ‘light bulb’ moment for you?I’m not sure there was ever a ‘light bulb’ moment for me. I started making things and just haven’t stopped. If I have a really manic day with the kids I know that once they are tucked up in bed I can pour a glass of wine, get out the hook and do something that I love. For me, it really balances things out.

3. Name three of your favourite artist/maker/designers who have influences your artistic direction or your craft practice? Rita from Red Pepper Quilts was the first quilting blog I came across that really inspired me to have a go at quilting myself. Rita’s quilts are so vibrant and contemporary, they really challenged my idea of what a quilt was. More recently, I have been inspired by the quilts of Gee’s Bend. The colour combinations and compostition of these quilts are so interesting and very inspiring. I really admire Kirsty from Kootoyoo. Apart from being really clever, Kirst is also incredibly generous – with both her time and knowledge. She has really encouraged me to have just ‘have a crack’.

4. What is your favourite material/product to work with? And what three things could you not do without in your craft room?I couldn’t do without my hook, scissors or scrap bin.

Print any or all of the three printable ebook formats (vertical a4/letter, horizontal a4/letter and vertical 2 printed to a page a4/letter) or purchase the already beautifully printed hard copy from Redbubble.

Print as many whipup 2011 calendars as you like to give for last minute presents and budget gifts. These also are fabulous to hang in your kitchen, craft room or office. Find out more info here.

All three printable formats are included in the one low price of $5.00

Looks like you have entered a product ID (1) that doesn't exist in the product database. Please check your product ID value again!

Thank you Ann for participating in the 2010 whipup calendar. The calendar was a wonderful process and celebration of whipup for the year. I personally love all the artists whose work appears in the calendar and am so happy that these artists agreed to have images of their work published – thank you to all the artists who participated. Find out how to get a calendar here – great for gifts for crafty friends and family. There is a US version from LULU – and an Australian version from Redbubble – elsewhere – buying from redbubble has much better round the world postage options and the calendar itself is better quality (hence the slightly more expensive price).

Now for our featured artist for today and the last one in the series. I asked all our calendar artists to answer a series of questions … introducing Ann Wood…

Ann Wood lives in Brooklyn, NY and you can find her online: blog and website

1. When did you start making/crafting, and who or what inspired that first creative burst?In May of 2006 with the hope of generating some creative momentum and discipline for myself I started my cardboard stampede project. My plan was to make a cardboard horse everyday, Monday through Friday until I had 100. I did and exhibited the group at Tinlark in Los Angeles in 2007. It was a low pressure and relatively small daily task (monday through friday) that got my head and hands moving in a creative way whether I felt like it or not. I also started a blog and posted each horse for some accountability and a record and ended up finding more support, encouragement and inspiration in this community than I could have imagined. A couple of other unexpected benefits: I developed a much deeper understanding of the power of a small thing done daily, all sorts of new ideas emerged from the exercise of making each little horse. In terms of it’s original purpose – get personal work done regularly – It worked beautifully – it changed my life.

2. What would you say was that light-bulb moment when you discovered your ‘style’ and really hit your making stride? I don’t think I have but there are little flickers and glimpses all the time and that’s incredibly exciting and motivating. One of the things I like about having a blog is seeing how what I make has changed over the past three years, how ideas have developed in ways I couldn’t possibly have imagined in the beginning.

3. Why do you make – what do you get out of it?A strong sense that I am doing what I am meant to do, absolute delight in the process and the gift of spending vast amounts of time doing things I love to do.

over the next couple of weeks we are going to find out a little more about the wonderful makers featured in the 2010 whipup calendar – starting with Susan Chi (Tada’s Revolution). Susan’s Grand Theft Auto, fun gorgeous characters crocheted with yarn – is our wonderful fun and quirky cover image.

I asked all our participants to answer a few questions about their creative process:

1. When did you start making/crafting, and who or what inspired that first creative burst?I first learned to draw when I was three years old. When I was growing up, I used to spent time around my uncle and cousin who were painting pictures all the time. I started to draw every day, whatever I could find, including my grandpa, and carrots.

2. What would you say was that light-bulb moment when you discovered your ‘style’ and really hit your making stride?I constantly find inspiration in art and nature, and I think that my style constantly evolves. Often going through phases. If you look closely at a string of my pieces or photo sets, you can usually pick up on my obsessions of the moment.

3. Why do you make – what do you get out of it?Crafting and art has become a central thread of my life, and it is hard for me to picture life without doing arts or crafts of some sort. When I craft, it brings me order, peace, and happiness.